Chapter 117 - The Whale Watch Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville
Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 117 - The Whale Watch
How many whales were killed on the evening described in Chapter 117?
- Two whales, both brought alongside the ship
- Three whales, with one left at a distance
- Four whales, with one too far windward to retrieve
- Five whales, scattered in every direction
Whose boat stays beside the dead whale all night?
- Starbuck's boat, as first mate on watch duty
- Stubb's boat, since he killed the whale
- Flask's boat, assigned the windward position
- Ahab's boat, which had killed the windward whale
Who remains awake during the nighttime whale watch?
- Ahab, consumed by thoughts of Moby Dick
- The Parsee (Fedallah), watching the sharks
- Starbuck, keeping watch over the captain
- Queequeg, standing guard with his harpoon
What biblical location does Melville reference to describe the eerie sound in the air?
- The Red Sea, parted by Moses for the Israelites
- The Garden of Eden, where serpents whispered
- Asphaltites (the Dead Sea) and the ghosts of Gomorrah
- Mount Sinai, where thunder echoed from heaven
What has Ahab been dreaming about repeatedly?
- The white whale breaching near the ship
- Hearses, symbols of death and burial
- His wife and child waiting on Nantucket
- The Pequod sinking in a great storm
According to Fedallah's prophecy, what must Ahab see before he can die?
- A white whale and a black whale fighting at sea
- Two hearses on the sea, one not made by mortal hands
- Three ships sinking on the same day at sea
- The coast of America one final time before death
What material does Fedallah say is the only thing that can kill Ahab?
- Iron, forged into a harpoon by mortal hands
- Ivory, like the whale bone of his prosthetic leg
- Hemp, which Ahab interprets as the hangman's rope
- Fire, descending from the heavens above the sea
Why does Ahab declare himself "immortal on land and on sea"?
- He believes a charm from Queequeg protects him
- He thinks all three conditions of the prophecy are impossible to fulfill
- He has survived so many voyages that he feels invincible
- The Parsee explicitly tells him he will never die
What role does Fedallah say he will play in relation to Ahab's death?
- He will be the one to kill Moby Dick for Ahab
- He will die before Ahab and appear again as his pilot
- He will steer the Pequod safely back to Nantucket
- He will sacrifice himself to save Ahab from danger
Which Shakespearean play uses a similar literary device of misleading prophecies?
- Hamlet, with the ghost's revelation about murder
- King Lear, with the Fool's cryptic warnings to the king
- Macbeth, with the witches' equivocal prophecies of invincibility
- The Tempest, with Prospero's magical predictions of storms
What are the sharks doing during the nighttime whale watch?
- Attacking Ahab's boat and trying to capsize it
- Circling the dead whale and tapping the boat with their tails
- Swimming away from the lantern's light in fear
- Fighting each other over scraps of the dead whale
How does Melville describe Ahab and the Parsee when Ahab wakes from his dream?
- Like a king and his jester performing at midnight
- Like the last men in a flooded world, hooped by gloom
- Like two ancient prophets debating the will of God
- Like a captain and his loyal first mate at the helm
What happens at dawn at the end of the chapter?
- Moby Dick is sighted on the horizon by the lookout
- The crew wakes and the dead whale is brought to the ship by noon
- A storm forces the boat to cut the whale loose at sea
- Fedallah disappears mysteriously before the crew awakens
How does Ahab react to Fedallah's complete prophecy?
- With silent fear and deep contemplation about his fate
- With a laugh of derision, mocking the impossibility of the conditions
- With anger, threatening to throw the Parsee overboard at once
- With gratitude, thanking the Parsee for the reassuring words
What does Ahab consider his "two pledges" that he will slay Moby Dick and survive?
- His ivory leg and his harpoon, forged with blood
- The two impossible conditions: hearses at sea and Fedallah as pilot after death
- Letters from his wife and a lock of his son's hair
- Starbuck's oath of loyalty and the crew's morale
Comprehension Quiz
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